Speaking to reporters outside his London home, May joked: “Well apparently they have shot him,” before adding, “I’ve only found this out by prising the information out of various BBC sources, nobody has actually told me officially until a few moments ago when they emailed.”

Although noting that the BBC’s “hands were tied,” May was clearly affected by the decision. “I don’t really have anything to say about it,” he told Sky News. “It’s a tragedy. I’m sorry that what ought to have been a small incident sorted out easily has turned into something big.”

According to the BBC report, Clarkson launched an “unprovoked physical and verbal attack” on producer Oisin Tymon that lasted around 30 seconds. In a statement, Tymon called the incident “very regrettable” and described Clarkson as “a unique talent.”

The BBC has already indicated that it hopes to renew Top Gear in 2016, but May was evasive about the future of the show and his part in it: “I’m sure Top Gear will continue in some way. It existed before us, it’s been reformatted several times.”

As to whether he would stay with the series, May said “I don’t want to talk about that too much” but did note that “I think we are very much the three of us [Clarkson, Richard Hammond and May] as a package. It works for very complicated reasons that a lot of people don’t fully understand. So that will require a lot of careful thought.”